Last year, Noela Rukundo attended her own funeral in Melbourne, Australia. As the last of the mourners filed out of her house, she got out of her car to face her husband, the man who'd hired hit men to kill her when she took a trip to Burundi just five days earlier. According to the BBC, Rukundo confronted him by saying, "Surprise! I'm still alive!" and her husband looked as though he'd seen a ghost.

According to the Australia Broadcasting Corporation, Balenga Kalala paid kidnappers $7,000 to shoot his wife and mother of his three kids while in Burundi. The hit men allegedly had morals: They told Rukundo after holding her at gunpoint they did not want to kill women or children. They also provided her with the evidence that would ultimately indict her husband — recordings of conversations between them and Kalala as well as receipts of payment for the job.

Finally, they called Kalala and extorted him for more money after telling him the job was done and his wife was dead. Believing the men, Kalala told everyone at home Rukundo had been killed in a tragic accident in Africa and began organizing her funeral.

TheWashington Postreports Rukundo was able to get Kalala to confess to ordering her murder on tape after she confronted him at the funeral. He pleaded guilty and is currently serving a nine-year sentence in Melbourne.

Rukundo still does not understand why her husband of 10 years would want to murder her: "I knew he was a violent man," she told the BBC. "But I didn't believe he can kill me. I loved this man with all my heart! I give him, beautiful and handsome, two boys and one girl. So I don't know why he choose to kill me."

Though Kalala will be eligible for parole in six years, Rukundo is focusing on moving forward with her very much alive life: "I will stand up like a strong woman. My situation, my past life? That is gone. I'm starting a new life now."

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